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Anyone with multiple IELTS attempt ?

T

thestunner316

Champion Member
Feb 6, 2016
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karanlokesh said:
Listening is the easiest of whole IELTS, don't mess it up. I gave IELTS twice w/o any kind of intense preparation, but able to achieve 8 both times.
Click to expand...
reason why i say its toughest is there is no do over, no 2nd chance... if you miss something, its gone...

and there is always the urge of trying to remember what the previous answer was and not concentrating on the next question... in trying to remember 1 x question which is gone, you might miss the next 3... :)
 
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NiSn

Hero Member
Mar 17, 2018
209
32
Is there any timeline before i could again appear for IELTS for EE after failing to get good score in 1st attempt? I mean is it mandatory to have a space of XYZ months between attempts?
 
tanzeelahmed64

tanzeelahmed64

Star Member
Jun 6, 2018
89
37
Hopefully my tips can help those who are stuck at lower scores (usually only 0.5 or 1 band) in one or the other section.

I took Ielts twice with a gap of 1 month.
First attempt, 30 June 2018
LRWS: 9,8,6.5,7

Second attempt: 2 August 2018
LRWS: 9,9,8,7.5

I was devastated even after first attempt because i scored CLB9 in three section and my CRS was doping about 45 point only because of a mere 0.5 lack in writing score. My brother who is my biggest motivator, convinced me to give it another try and so i booked for Ielts again. Following is my preparation plan and i really hope it can help you guys.

Listening and reading: I know many test takers prefer to prepare through YouTube videos but i would suggest to practice with Cambridge ielts book 1-13. Do as many practice tests as you can from these books because these are actual past papers and question types are exactly what appears in real exam. For listening, as many have already pointed out, DO NOT lose focus even for 1 second. Best way to do that is to get a good night sleep before going for exam so you can be as fresh and focused as possible. If you miss a question, don't stress it out because you need 35 right answers to score 8 and worrying about 1 answer and losing focus is not worth it. Try to guess missing answer at the end when you get 10 minutes to transfer the answers. For reading, what troubled me most was T,F,NG questions. What's not given straight away in the passage, the answer for that is NG. Don't overthink and try to comprehend what writers may have meant.

Writing: The part i was most afraid of losing is writing. I usually produce error free grammatical sentences and complex sentences were also not a problem but i always felt in practice that my essays were not coherent enough and i am not using complicated vocabulary. You need to write it the way that reader doesn't have to go back and recall different things at different points. Flow should be logical the way that it can be understood easily in first read. Make it easier for the examiner. Keep your vocabulary simple yet varied. Use synonyms but you don't need to use any words that are very complex and less common. Understand that some words cannot be paraphrased so use only synonyms that fit 100% perfectly in that sentence. Always plan at least 5 minutes and leave as much time for proofreading. Use a range of grammatical structures such as conditional, passive, past, present, future etc. Give examples in body paragraphs but they should not be your personal examples. Make examples from real life situations. Your thesis statement should always include your opinion (if asked) and outline of body paragraphs.

Speaking: The part I least prepared for and never actually practiced as my score clearly indicates. Be relaxed and confident. Feel that whatever you are saying is right and examiner is completely in agreement with you. I know its difficult but try to take it as a normal conversation, not an exam. Keep you language simple and precise. Accent doesn't matter as long as it can be easily understood. Try to use range of grammar and don't repeat same words a lot. In my first attempt, i spoke only for 1 minute 20 seconds in part 2 and examiner had to ask me if i wanna add something more. In my second attempt, i had to talk about a quiet place which i found and i used to visit. Instead of thinking about just one quiet place, i thought of 2. One that i used to go to when i was student (it gave me opportunity to use past tense) and one from my current routine (hence the present tense). This way i showed my grammatical range and filled that 2 minute duration easily that examiner had to eventually stop me.

Best of luck to everyone out there who is working hard and spending hard labored money to realize their dreams. Please don't lose hope and keep trying and last but not the least, have Faith in God and keep praying.
 
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A

aastha chopra

Newbie
Sep 8, 2018
7
0
have you got ITA ?

i am left by .5 in writing. whom did you follow for writing essays.

tanzeelahmed64 said:
Hopefully my tips can help those who are stuck at lower scores (usually only 0.5 or 1 band) in one or the other section.

I took Ielts twice with a gap of 1 month.
First attempt, 30 June 2018
LRWS: 9,8,6.5,7

Second attempt: 2 August 2018
LRWS: 9,9,8,7.5

I was devastated even after first attempt because i scored CLB9 in three section and my CRS was doping about 45 point only because of a mere 0.5 lack in writing score. My brother who is my biggest motivator, convinced me to give it another try and so i booked for Ielts again. Following is my preparation plan and i really hope it can help you guys.

Listening and reading: I know many test takers prefer to prepare through YouTube videos but i would suggest to practice with Cambridge ielts book 1-13. Do as many practice tests as you can from these books because these are actual past papers and question types are exactly what appears in real exam. For listening, as many have already pointed out, DO NOT lose focus even for 1 second. Best way to do that is to get a good night sleep before going for exam so you can be as fresh and focused as possible. If you miss a question, don't stress it out because you need 35 right answers to score 8 and worrying about 1 answer and losing focus is not worth it. Try to guess missing answer at the end when you get 10 minutes to transfer the answers. For reading, what troubled me most was T,F,NG questions. What's not given straight away in the passage, the answer for that is NG. Don't overthink and try to comprehend what writers may have meant.

Writing: The part i was most afraid of losing is writing. I usually produce error free grammatical sentences and complex sentences were also not a problem but i always felt in practice that my essays were not coherent enough and i am not using complicated vocabulary. You need to write it the way that reader doesn't have to go back and recall different things at different points. Flow should be logical the way that it can be understood easily in first read. Make it easier for the examiner. Keep your vocabulary simple yet varied. Use synonyms but you don't need to use any words that are very complex and less common. Understand that some words cannot be paraphrased so use only synonyms that fit 100% perfectly in that sentence. Always plan at least 5 minutes and leave as much time for proofreading. Use a range of grammatical structures such as conditional, passive, past, present, future etc. Give examples in body paragraphs but they should not be your personal examples. Make examples from real life situations. Your thesis statement should always include your opinion (if asked) and outline of body paragraphs.

Speaking: The part I least prepared for and never actually practiced as my score clearly indicates. Be relaxed and confident. Feel that whatever you are saying is right and examiner is completely in agreement with you. I know its difficult but try to take it as a normal conversation, not an exam. Keep you language simple and precise. Accent doesn't matter as long as it can be easily understood. Try to use range of grammar and don't repeat same words a lot. In my first attempt, i spoke only for 1 minute 20 seconds in part 2 and examiner had to ask me if i wanna add something more. In my second attempt, i had to talk about a quiet place which i found and i used to visit. Instead of thinking about just one quiet place, i thought of 2. One that i used to go to when i was student (it gave me opportunity to use past tense) and one from my current routine (hence the present tense). This way i showed my grammatical range and filled that 2 minute duration easily that examiner had to eventually stop me.

Best of luck to everyone out there who is working hard and spending hard labored money to realize their dreams. Please don't lose hope and keep trying and last but not the least, have Faith in God and keep praying.
Click to expand...
 
tanzeelahmed64

tanzeelahmed64

Star Member
Jun 6, 2018
89
37
aastha chopra said:
IQAS will take three months. All the best. Thanks for your advise though.

Did you buy Liz writing videos as well
Click to expand...
NO, i only followed her free articles and video tips. Her sample essays and structure is great.

PS: Its already been about 2 months over for my IQAS application. Hoping to receive ECA in October
 
Last edited:
P

pashi_26

Full Member
Mar 14, 2009
21
1
tanzeelahmed64 said:
Hopefully my tips can help those who are stuck at lower scores (usually only 0.5 or 1 band) in one or the other section.

I took Ielts twice with a gap of 1 month.
First attempt, 30 June 2018
LRWS: 9,8,6.5,7

Second attempt: 2 August 2018
LRWS: 9,9,8,7.5

I was devastated even after first attempt because i scored CLB9 in three section and my CRS was doping about 45 point only because of a mere 0.5 lack in writing score. My brother who is my biggest motivator, convinced me to give it another try and so i booked for Ielts again. Following is my preparation plan and i really hope it can help you guys.

Listening and reading: I know many test takers prefer to prepare through YouTube videos but i would suggest to practice with Cambridge ielts book 1-13. Do as many practice tests as you can from these books because these are actual past papers and question types are exactly what appears in real exam. For listening, as many have already pointed out, DO NOT lose focus even for 1 second. Best way to do that is to get a good night sleep before going for exam so you can be as fresh and focused as possible. If you miss a question, don't stress it out because you need 35 right answers to score 8 and worrying about 1 answer and losing focus is not worth it. Try to guess missing answer at the end when you get 10 minutes to transfer the answers. For reading, what troubled me most was T,F,NG questions. What's not given straight away in the passage, the answer for that is NG. Don't overthink and try to comprehend what writers may have meant.

Writing: The part i was most afraid of losing is writing. I usually produce error free grammatical sentences and complex sentences were also not a problem but i always felt in practice that my essays were not coherent enough and i am not using complicated vocabulary. You need to write it the way that reader doesn't have to go back and recall different things at different points. Flow should be logical the way that it can be understood easily in first read. Make it easier for the examiner. Keep your vocabulary simple yet varied. Use synonyms but you don't need to use any words that are very complex and less common. Understand that some words cannot be paraphrased so use only synonyms that fit 100% perfectly in that sentence. Always plan at least 5 minutes and leave as much time for proofreading. Use a range of grammatical structures such as conditional, passive, past, present, future etc. Give examples in body paragraphs but they should not be your personal examples. Make examples from real life situations. Your thesis statement should always include your opinion (if asked) and outline of body paragraphs.

Speaking: The part I least prepared for and never actually practiced as my score clearly indicates. Be relaxed and confident. Feel that whatever you are saying is right and examiner is completely in agreement with you. I know its difficult but try to take it as a normal conversation, not an exam. Keep you language simple and precise. Accent doesn't matter as long as it can be easily understood. Try to use range of grammar and don't repeat same words a lot. In my first attempt, i spoke only for 1 minute 20 seconds in part 2 and examiner had to ask me if i wanna add something more. In my second attempt, i had to talk about a quiet place which i found and i used to visit. Instead of thinking about just one quiet place, i thought of 2. One that i used to go to when i was student (it gave me opportunity to use past tense) and one from my current routine (hence the present tense). This way i showed my grammatical range and filled that 2 minute duration easily that examiner had to eventually stop me.

Best of luck to everyone out there who is working hard and spending hard labored money to realize their dreams. Please don't lose hope and keep trying and last but not the least, have Faith in God and keep praying.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your suggestions.
But, where did you get Cambridge books 1-13? Did you buy all of them or downloaded from somewhere?
I'm in US and can't buy all of them (too much expensive). If you don't mind sharing any soft copies, downloaded material etc?
 
N

natsa

Newbie
Aug 16, 2018
5
0
thestunner316 said:
listening is the toughest module in IELTS, and also the most rewarding - as there is usually only one correct answer...

Here are some tips which might be useful. I've written IELTS 4 times over the years, 3 times I got 8.5 so i kinda know what I'm talking about...

1 - First try and understand which section in listening you messed up, and why... there are 4 sections - usually section 1 is easiest, 2 is a little difficult, 3 and 4 require utmost concentration. You need to understand and analyse which section you messed up, and more importantly why... it could be as simple as loss in concentration, or trying to remember what the previous answer was while the audio is still going on, sometimes if there is a conversation between 2 people - you forget who is who...
2 - I strongly, strongly recommend that people write down what is being said on the tape in real time and not look for answers while reading the questions... thats a sure shot way to disaster. this trick is useful in 2 places
--> Multiple choice questions - Where each question has 2 answers
--> When conversattion between 2 people is going on
You dont have to write each and every word... just transcripts... like for example if the entire statement is
"I wore a blue tshirt today to work and on the way i ordered a cafe latte and blueberry muffin and filled gas"
I would transcribe - "blue shirt, work, cafe latte, bb muffin, gas on way"
3 - Do not keep replaying the conversation in your head if you missed a question trying to think of an answer while the tape is still running. If you missed 1 question, its OK ... dont try thinking about one question when you can miss the next 5... 1 question vs 5 question : Do the math and see what is more important.
4 - Try and be as calm as you can before the test... sing a song in your head, keep your head down... its extremely easy to become nervous looking at other candidates praying like crazy before the exam lol... just close your eyes, goto your happy place... try and stay as relaxed as possible...
5 - in my case, i observed that first 2-3 sections went well (during practise) and i was relaxing in section 4 - just standard loss of concentration. so during the test i was screaming at myself (not outloud of course lol) after section 3 just to make sure and remind myself not to lose concentration... job is only 3/4th done...
6 - finally - practise as much as you can... and practise tests like an actual test - no pausing, no coffee breaks, no phone messages... do actual mock tests... buy a headset if you want - just replicate proper test conditions.

hope this would be useful ha ha :) good luck
Click to expand...
thank you so much
 
tanzeelahmed64

tanzeelahmed64

Star Member
Jun 6, 2018
89
37
pashi_26 said:
Thanks for your suggestions.
But, where did you get Cambridge books 1-13? Did you buy all of them or downloaded from somewhere?
I'm in US and can't buy all of them (too much expensive). If you don't mind sharing any soft copies, downloaded material etc?
Click to expand...
I sent you a link in PM to download the books
 
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